


Let Me Call You Sweetheart: or alternately, Five Times Kurt Took Care of Blaine, and One Time They Talked About It

by rdm_ation, theworldwhispers



Series: Let Me Call You Sweetheart [3]
Category: Glee
Genre: Fluff, M/M, dk!klaine, verse: let me call you sweetheart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-04
Updated: 2012-05-04
Packaged: 2017-11-04 19:39:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/397463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rdm_ation/pseuds/rdm_ation, https://archiveofourown.org/users/theworldwhispers/pseuds/theworldwhispers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kurt wants this. Blaine wants this.<br/>The problem is, neither is willing to bring it up. 5 times that they hint at each other, and the one time they make it clear.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Let Me Call You Sweetheart: or alternately, Five Times Kurt Took Care of Blaine, and One Time They Talked About It

**Author's Note:**

> This is a fic we've been talking about and co-writing for quite a while now, backstory to the daddy!kink verse we established called Let Me Call You Sweetheart.
> 
> There's no actual daddy!kink in this, though, it's pure fluff.

Looking back on it, Blaine should have known.  He really, really should have.

 

Because looking back, there were definitely distinct periods where Kurt was clearly trying to let him know that he wanted something more out of their relationship.  Not from him, necessarily – perhaps from himself?  But now that they’ve gotten here, now that this is a part of them, he can’t help but think he really should have figured it out sooner.  Or had the nerve to say something himself.  That would’ve made things go faster.  _A lot_ faster.  And when he thinks of all the time they missed out on, he could almost kick himself.

 

Because this – this is something that Blaine is pretty sure he’s always wanted, even if he wouldn’t admit it.  He’s always liked the idea of the other person being in power, which, again, probably should have been a clue.

 

Really, there were just… _so many_ clues.  How had he missed them all?

 

Of course, he wants any relationship he has to be equal.  But there are times when life just seems a little overwhelming, and he’s always loved the idea of someone else taking care of everything. And from the moment they became friends, Kurt made everything okay

 

So while being Kurt’s Baby isn’t something he used to imagine, per se – now that it’s happened?  He can’t see how he was ever so oblivious about it.  Especially given that if Kurt had been any less subtle, he probably would’ve brought home a pacifier.

 

They say ‘hindsight is 20/20.’

 

Blaine considers himself living proof.

 

\--

1.

 

Blaine flips the next page in his textbook with a sigh.  The last thing he wants to be doing on the weekend is studying; he’d much rather be going to the movies with Kurt or going to a concert in the park with Kurt or doing, well, anything with Kurt, really.  But unfortunately he has a big Chemistry test Monday morning, so he’s stuck here.

 

He hasn’t left the house all weekend.  Suffice to say, he’s starting to go a little bit stir-crazy.

 

Which is why, at first, he thinks that he imagines the doorbell when it rings.  He picks his head up, staring out his bedroom door down the hall, willing it to ring again and prove him right.

 

It does, and he flies out of his desk chair and into the foyer.  After taking a second to look out the peephole, he opens the door with a surprised smile.

 

“Kurt!” he says, wrapping his arms tightly around his boyfriend’s neck.  “What are you doing here?  I told you I had to study all weekend.”

 

“I know,” Kurt says, hugging him back.  “You also said you hadn’t moved all weekend.  You deserve a break, Blaine.  You’re going to exhaust yourself if you keep going like this.”

 

“I-…”

 

“No buts,” Kurt cuts him off, pushing past him into the Anderson home.  “You know, studies show that studying for 30 to 50 minutes at a time with a 10 minute break between is the best way to retain information.  Just reading continuously isn’t going to make all that information stick, sweetheart.”

 

Blaine glances down the hall towards his bedroom.  “I- alright.  I guess a little break won’t hurt,” he concedes.

 

It’s then that he notices the basket hanging over Kurt’s arm.

 

“What’s that?” he asks, eyeing it warily.  “You clearly knew I’d crack.  You came prepared.”

 

“Of course I did,” Kurt scoffs.  “I knew I’d convince you.”

 

“Cocky,” Blaine teases, nudging him with his shoulder.

 

Kurt smiles as he leads them into the living room.  “Nope.  I just know what you need.”

 

With a raise of his eyebrow, Blaine asks, “Oh?  And what is that?”

 

He sets the basket on the coffee table and opens the flaps on the top, pulling out a checkered blanket.  With a deft flick of his wrists, he lays it out on the floor.  “Someone to make sure you don’t work yourself to death.  Now come sit down with me.”

 

Blaine laughs.  “You make it sound like I don’t have a choice.”

 

“You don’t.  Come here,” he repeats, patting the spot next to him as he sits down and pulls the basket into his lap.

 

Still not entirely sure what’s going on, Blaine sits down next to him and attempts to peer into the basket, but Kurt promptly shuts it.

 

“It’s a surprise.  Close your eyes,” he says, voice firm.

 

Blaine sighs, but he does as he’s told.  He leans back onto his hands, his eyes clenched shut tightly.  Kurt ruffles a few things around, and Blaine can feel him setting things down on the blanket around them.  After a few more minutes, the basket closes.

 

“Alright, you can open them,” Kurt announces, a smile obvious in his voice.

 

He does, and his breath is nearly knocked out of him by what he sees.  Arranged all around them is a complete picnic lunch.  Kurt has made his favorite sandwich (turkey and cheese on sourdough), but each one is cut into little triangles with the crusts cut off, just like he once told him his mother used to do for his school lunch each day.  Next to the plate of sandwiches is a bowl of grapes, a thermos, and what appear to be homemade oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (again, a favorite of his that he’d confessed to Kurt at some point).

 

“You- you did all of this for me?” he asks, his eyes shining.

 

Kurt smiles, running a hand tenderly down Blaine’s arm.  “Of course I did.”

 

“It looks amazing.  You didn’t have to do this, Kurt,” Blaine says, fingering the edge of the (rather clichéd, but still absolutely adorable) blanket.

 

He leans in and kisses Blaine sweetly, brushing his thumb over the high curve of his cheekbone.  “I wanted to.  I was worried, and I missed you.”

 

“I’m fine,” Blaine breathes, his forehead resting against Kurt’s as they talk.

 

Kurt sneaks another kiss.  “You are now.  Now eat!  You have to fuel that brain if you’re going to work yourself so hard.”

 

“Yes, sir,” he teases, eventually extracting himself from Kurt.

 

“You know you love it,” he quips in return.

 

Blaine just smiles.

 

\--

2.

 

Blaine is sick. He’s been feeling it coming on for days, but he’s refused to let it get to him. He rarely gets sick, and even when he does it’s never bad, so he figures he’ll just ride this one out.

 

Or he does until he tries to roll out of bed and feels like the whole room is spinning. There’s no way he’s getting out of bed today.

 

Groaning, he rolls back over, burying his face in his pillow. Maybe if he ignores his headache, his blocked nose, and the aches in his joints they’ll disappear. As soon as the thought occurs to him, he starts coughing. Violently.

_Great._

 

Through the haze that is his mind, he vaguely remembers having plans to do _something_ today. Now, if he could only remember what they were… He tries to think as he heaves himself up into a sitting position. He spares a glance at the clock, and it hits him. He’s supposed to be meeting Kurt at the Lima Bean in… 5 minutes. Crap.

 

He scrambles for his phone, and then has to freeze because the dizziness hits him again at full force.

 

He swears - or rather, he tries to.  No sound comes out. He texts Kurt instead of calling.

_I’m so sorry, Kurt, I’m sick and I just woke up. I don’t think I’ll be able to come today – even if I could get up I don’t want to get you sick. Love you._

 

The reply is almost instant.

_Are your parents home?_

 

Blaine honestly hasn’t even thought about his parents; he’s very used to taking care of himself. Even when he’s sick.

_No, it’s just me here,_ he sends back.

 

Again, Kurt is quick to respond.

_I’ll be there in an hour. Try to sleep some more. Xx_

 

Blaine thinks about protesting, but he knows his boyfriend; he’d likely be ignored. Instead, he collapses back under his covers and slowly drifts off.

 

He’s woken by the shrill blare of his doorbell, and this time he remembers to move slowly to avoid losing his sense of balance. He gradually makes his way to the front door, unlocks it, and practically launches himself at Kurt before he tucks his face into the crook of his neck.

 

Kurt chuckles, wrapping his arms around Blaine. “Hello to you too,” he says. “I brought some things to make you feel better…” When Blaine doesn’t get the hint, he continues. “Let’s get you back to your room and then I’ll go get them from my car.”

 

Reluctantly, Blaine lets go of his full-body hold on Kurt and takes his hand instead. Kurt drags him back to his room, and plants a kiss on Blaine’s forehead when he sits on the edge of his bed. It makes Blaine feel okay, just for a second, despite the pounding in his head.

 

As Kurt vanishes again, Blaine decides to wash his face and try to appear a little more alive, sending out a general thank you to the universe that the dizziness has mostly subsided. _Maybe Kurt’s presence is magical,_ he thinks. He wouldn’t be surprised.

 

He strips out of his t-shirt and is trying to find a clean, comfortable one, when Kurt reappears holding what looks to be-

 

“Are those your pajamas?” Blaine asks, confused.

 

Kurt bites his lip. “I thought you might want something clean to wear, and maybe if it was something of mine it’d help you feel better… but if you don’t want to that’s okay, I mean it is a little weird-”

 

“Kurt?” Blaine says, smiling, “That’s really sweet. Now gimme!”

 

Kurt shakes his head, laughing. “You really are ridiculously cute, you know that?”

 

“Oh, shut up.”

 

Blaine groans as his head pounds, again, and quickly changes into Kurt’s pajamas. He was right, they do feel nice. The buttons take him a few tries to do up, but he bats away Kurt’s offer of help.

 

“I’m not that sick. Come on.”

 

“If you say so, Mr. Can’t-Stand-Up-Properly.”

 

Blaine scowls. Just because he’d needed to sit down to put the pants on is no reason for Kurt to keep teasing him.

 

“I’m doing just fine,” he says. “Stop smirking at me – I know you are.”

 

“Aww, poor baby,” Kurt drawls. “Come on, hurry up! I have some other surprises for you.”

 

Blaine perks up a little, at that – that usually means good things coming from Kurt. “Like what?” he asks.

 

“They wouldn’t be surprises if I told you, now would they?”

 

“Okay, okay, I’m dressed. Can I have the other surprises now?” Blaine flops dramatically back on his bed, flailing his arms out to his sides. “I’m sick! I need my surprises.”

 

“I am seriously regretting mentioning them now.  You are acting like you are five. Five, Blaine.”

 

“Please?” Blaine gives his best version of what Kurt terms his ‘sad puppy eyes,’ and is gratified when he can actually _see_ Kurt relenting.

 

“I’ll be right back, don’t fall asleep on me,” he teases, heading for the door.

 

Blaine waits, and it feels like a lot longer than the 5 minutes it takes for Kurt to reappear, steaming mugs in hand and his bag slung over his shoulder.

 

“I have lemon tea here, and meds in my bag, and I was thinking we could curl up and watch a movie.”

 

“God, I love you,” Blaine smiles. “You’re the best.”

 

“I try.” Kurt grins back.

 

Blaine watches as Kurt sets the mugs of tea down on Blaine’s bedside table, and starts setting up his laptop on the edge of the bed. Sometimes Blaine wonders what he did to deserve a boyfriend like Kurt. He hopes that, whatever it was, he can keep it up.

 

\--

3.

 

Blaine ends his second performance of the day of Katy Perry’s ET with a flourish of his arms, grinning wildly at the crowd of cheering pre-teen girls.  Maybe his dad was right – maybe he did only get this theme park job every summer because he was one of the few boys to audition – but performing never failed to make him happy.

 

Especially on days like this, when a quick scan of the crowd shows Kurt leaning against a telephone pole to the right of the stage.  Naturally, he’s looking impeccable even in the stifling summer heat.

 

Blaine holds his hands up, asking for five minutes before gesturing to the stage door.  Kurt nods, fingering the lime green bracelet on his wrist, and shoos him away with a smile.  He knows the drill – this isn’t new to either of them.

 

He’s just getting out of the shower when one of the security guards ushers Kurt into the small dressing room saved for the performers.  He slips into a pair of cargo shorts and a t-shirt, ruffling his hair with the towel to get at least some of the water out, and quickly crosses the room to engulf Kurt in a hug.

 

“You were wonderful,” Kurt says, pressing a kiss to Blaine’s cheek.  “Not that anyone would be surprised.  You’re a born performer.”

 

His face flushes, and Blaine hopes Kurt just chalks it up to the heat of the day.  Even though they’ve been dating for about four months now, Kurt still has the ability to reduce him to a puddle of goo with a single sentence.

 

“I’m glad you could come today.  Is Finn with you?”

 

Kurt grins, pulling back from the hug.  “Nope.  You’re stuck with just me for the day.  However will you survive?”  As he talks, he drags Blaine over to the vanity and pushes him gently down into the chair.  Then, he grabs a comb and a bottle of hairspray.  “Not that I don’t enjoy your gel-free days, but it’s humid.  A little hairspray will keep it from turning into a frizzy mess on you.”

 

“It’s always a frizzy mess.  You can’t combat genetics, Kurt,” Blaine replies, laughing.

 

“Watch me,” he teases in return.

 

Once Kurt deems his hair acceptable, they head out into the rest of the park.

 

“So, what time do you have to be back today?”

 

Blaine turns to him with a big grin, his body practically buzzing with excitement.  “I don’t,” he says.  “Katherine’s sick.  No evening performance today.”

 

“So you’re all mine?”

 

“Always,” Blaine replies, his face heating up again.  They’re cheesy, he knows they are, but it works for them.

 

Kurt just smiles in return, lacing their fingers together and giving his hand a tight squeeze.  A moment later, they find themselves standing in front of a map of the entire park.

 

“Since we have free reign of the park now, what do you want to do?” Blaine asks.

 

His face scrunched up in mock seriousness, Kurt studies the map.  It’s a big park, and unfortunately, they don’t have enough time to do everything today.  They’ll have to pick and choose.

 

“I’m up for just about anything,” Kurt says.  “Except the water rides,” he amends quickly when he sees Blaine’s face perk up.

 

Blaine pouts.  “But it’s _hot_ , Kurt!  Think of how good they’d feel!”

 

“I’m hardly dressed for getting wet, Blaine.”

 

“Yes, well, whose fault is that?  It’s a theme park!  Of course there are water rides!”

 

Kurt just laughs at him.  “Geez, calm down.  How many times a day do you ride these things anyway?  It’s not new to you.  It’s not like you can’t just come ride them tomorrow during your break, you know.”

 

With a roll of his eyes, Blaine sighs.  “Fine, fine.  Well, let’s go-“ he cuts himself off for a moment, studying the map.  “What about this one?” he asks, pointing to one of his favorite rides.

 

After looking at it for a second, Kurt nods.  “Okay.  We can do that.  We go this way, right?”  He points down a trail that heads off to their left, winding around the edge of the park.

 

Blaine nods and starts off, tugging Kurt sharply by his hand.

 

“Slow down, Blaine!  We have plenty of time.”

 

“But I want to squeeze in as much as we can today.  It’s not often that I have the whole evening free!  And,” he begins, turning back to glance at Kurt with wide, sincere eyes, “I’ve missed you.  I’ve been so busy that I feel like we haven’t gotten to see each other much recently.”

 

Kurt feels his resolve soften.  “You’re lucky I love you.  Alright, come on then. Lead the way, Blaine Warbler!”

 

The excited grin once again takes over his face as he leads them quickly down the path, dodging food carts and families and over-priced games with stuffed toy prizes.

 

“Calm down or I’m going to get you one of those puppy backpack kid leashes like that lady over there has for her toddler,” Kurt teases, pointing to a family off to their right.  The mom holds tightly to the long plush strand of fabric as the kid runs in circles chasing a pigeon that, while determined to avoid the child’s grasp, seems to be too lazy to just fly away.

 

Blaine has to fight the urge to roll his eyes again.  “I’m not three.  But trust me, this ride is _awesome_.  You have to see it,” he says, dragging Kurt off once again.

 

Kurt just smiles.  Blaine’s enthusiasm towards everything is one of the things he loves most about him, no matter how silly it may seem.  Still, he mumbles, “You could’ve fooled me…”

 

Blaine purposely ignores him, just squeezing Kurt’s hand again as they round the final corner.  He stops dead in his tracks as soon as they do, nearly causing Kurt to run into him.

 

“You can’t just stop walking mid-park, Blaine!  There’s a crowd of people behi-” he stops short. “What are you staring at?” he asks, looking around his shoulder to try to see what has his attention captured.

 

Blaine raises his hand, pointing to one of the games – some sort of ring toss – that has a myriad of prizes to choose from.  Before Kurt can comment, Blaine whips around to stare at him, his eyes impossibly wide.

 

“Has anyone ever told you that you look like a child out of a Disney movie?” Kurt teases.

 

“Yes, but it – that’s not – can we play?  Please?”

 

Kurt raises an eyebrow.  “You mean: Can _I_ play?  I love you, sweetheart, but you know you have the hand-eye coordination of the puppy you stole those eyes from.”

 

“Nuh uh,” Blaine scowls.  “Mike told me my dancing was getting better after that party at Brittany’s the other day.”

 

With a kind, though somewhat condescending, pat to his shoulder, Kurt just nods.  “I’m sure he did.  But we’ve talked about this – you know those games are just out to steal money from people.  It’s hard to win, no matter how good your aim is.”

 

Blaine wraps his arms around Kurt’s waist, holding him close and, for once, not caring that they’re in a public place.  “But Kurt, I’m sure you have excellent aim.”  He gives him a suggestive eyebrow wiggle, trying to fight back a laugh.  “You know, my parents aren’t home-“

 

“Okay, okay, enough!” Kurt says, cutting him off, his voice raising half an octave in his panic.  “If I play one game – one! – will you _stop_ talking like… like that where anyone can hear you?”

 

A smug grin works its way onto Blaine’s face.  “Of course.”

 

“You’re horrible,” Kurt mutters as they head to the booth.  With a sigh, he slaps down a dollar bill out of his wallet.  “One game, please.”

 

The man behind the booth hands him three bright blue plastic rings.  One on the outer section of bottles means nothing.  One on the middle section means an extra ring.  One on the inner section of bottles, which holds all of about ten bottles, means your choice of the prizes.

 

Taking a deep breath, Kurt tosses the first ring.

 

Nothing.  He glances over at Blaine, who is pouting at him pathetically.

 

“I really want a prize, Kurt.  You can do it, I know you can,” he says, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

 

The second ring also lands on the outer bottles.  He gives Blaine an apologetic look, but Blaine just smiles his most encouraging smile back at him.

 

The third ring lands in the middle, which earns Kurt one more toss.

 

Before he can toss it, Blaine sneaks a kiss onto his cheek – “For good luck,” he says.

 

He tosses the final ring, which miraculously lands on the inner section of bottles.

 

The man working the booth rings a bell with total lack of enthusiasm and gestures to the toys hanging from the ceiling.  “You can have whatever you want,” he intones before turning back to his comic book with a heavy sigh.

 

Kurt turns back to Blaine, who is looking through the toys with animated wonder.  “Well, what do you want?” he asks, a proud-sounding tone to his voice.

 

Blaine studies them for a moment before looking back at Kurt.  “You pick.  You won it.  I want you to surprise me.”  He closes his eyes then, holding his hands out expectantly.

 

Slowly, Kurt reaches up, unclips a tiny stuffed dolphin, and sets it in Blaine’s hands.  “Okay, you can look now.”

 

Blaine does, and studies the toy.  After a moment, he looks up at Kurt, his head cocked to the side.  “A dolphin?” he asks.

 

“Brittany once told me that dolphins are just gay sharks.  I guess it stuck, even after all this time,” Kurt replies, sliding his fingers through a lock of Blaine’s hair and tucking it behind his ear.

 

Blaine hugs it to his chest, grinning broadly.  “I love it.  Thank you, Kurt.”  And he does.  It means a lot to him that Kurt, who thinks these games are silly and such a waste of money, would do this for him.  Blaine will gladly take any small things like this that he can hold on to when Kurt leaves next year.

 

“Alright, alright,” Kurt says, smiling softly at him.  “You got your toy.  Let’s go on that ride, shall we?”

 

They do, and Percy the Dolphin, as Blaine has dubbed him, is sitting and waiting in their cubby as soon as they step off the ride.  Blaine carries him around the park the rest of the day, tucked cheerfully between his side and his elbow.

 

It becomes a tradition after that.  Whenever Kurt comes to see Blaine perform, he surprises him backstage after the show with a small stuffed animal of some sort.  Whenever Blaine is upset, Kurt gives him some small fluffy token of affection.

 

They always elicit a smile.

 

\--

4.

 

“Hey Kurt?”

 

“Hmm?” Kurt looks up from his book, almost absently, as Blaine looks at him imploringly.

 

“Can you read to me?”

 

“I’m sorry, what?”

 

“Please? I’m just… stressed. Remember when I told you that Katherine was sick? Well, she has mono and will be out of action for a while. I have to do the shows by myself until they can find someone else – there are so many new songs to memorize…” he trails off. “I’m so tired but I can’t stop worrying enough to relax properly – I know your voice does, but you’re reading and I don’t want to distract you. So I was thinking you could just read aloud-“

 

“Blaine, shhh. You’re babbling. I guess I could, if you want. It’s… not something I usually would do though.”

 

“I know, but, please? I love you…” he sing-songs, aware of how silly he sounds.

 

Kurt rolls his eyes, in a way that Blaine has come to learn is more fond than not, and pats the bed next to him. Blaine sprawls himself across the bed, and ends up with his head on Kurt’s lap – and hears a wry chuckle from Kurt.

 

“Don’t get used to this, sweetheart – I’m not about to make this a habit.”

 

Blaine just hums his agreement and closes his eyes. He doesn’t take in much of what the book is about, but that’s not the point. As soon as he feels Kurt start running his free hand through his hair, he starts to drift off.

 

He barely makes out Kurt’s tiny sigh and his soft laugh.

 

“Such a good boy.”

 

\--

5.

 

Blaine loves to swim; it’s one of the things he likes to do just for himself and that truly allows him to relax. It has been for his entire life – and he’d been quite competitive when he was younger. That, of course, died when he got to high school, but he still loves the feel of the water, and how weightless everything seems when he’s swimming.

 

It’s for this reason that when Kurt arrives for an afternoon of movies and popcorn (and making out, naturally) he’s lost track of time in the Anderson pool.

 

He’s snapped out of his trance by the doorbell, and he belatedly realizes that he must have been in the pool for 2 hours. _Whoa._

 

Hastily, he hauls himself out of the pool and scurries across to where his towel is draped over the railing. He dries himself off as quickly as he can, and half walks, half runs through his house to the front door – being careful not to slip. He flings the door open, and just manages to stop himself from hugging Kurt immediately. He’s fairly sure he’d be on the receiving end of the patented Kurt Hummel bitchface if he got pool water on any of his clothes. And that would mean no making out. So it’s in his best interests to keep his distance, for now.

 

“Hey, Kurt,” he says, instead.

 

“Hey, you,” Kurt replies, clearly eying Blaine up and down. “I know it’s just us, Blaine, but isn’t this a little presumptuous?”

 

They manage to keep straight faces for a grand total of two seconds, before they start grinning at each other.

 

“Oh, you know, I just got undressed and doused myself in water for your viewing pleasure,” Blaine says. “No, I really did plan to be dressed and presentable by the time you got here but I got too into my swimming. I’ll get changed when we go upstairs.”

 

He ducks in for a kiss, which Kurt leans into, but then pulls away from with his face scrunched up. Blaine thinks it’s adorable.

 

“Blaine Anderson. You stink of chlorine, oh my god. I highly suggest you go and get in the shower and wash that off, and especially out of your hair.” He raises one eyebrow, as if daring Blaine to disagree, and then starts walking toward Blaine’s bedroom. Blaine follows, wondering what on earth he did to end up with someone so … _particular_ about things like this. He shrugs to himself, and decides not to fight it. A shower will be nice anyway.

 

When they make it to his room, and him to his bathroom, Kurt settles himself on Blaine’s bed and sprawls out. “Oh, and Blaine? Use the shampoo I bought you. Don’t think I don’t notice that you go back to your old one…”

 

“Yes, Dad,” Blaine calls back, drawing the last word out. “You sure you don’t want to tell me how to wash my hair, too?”

 

“Oh, shush. There are certain incentives for you washing all that chlorine out, you know.”

 

As Blaine waits for the water to heat, he can’t deny the thrill that runs up his spine when Kurt decides to start bossing him around. He wonders how far he can push this. He grabs Kurt’s shampoo and scans the directions, and decides he’ll leave his trunks on.

 

“Kurt? Can you come here for a moment?”

 

Blaine _knows_ Kurt is rolling his eyes, but sure enough, he can hear Kurt’s footsteps coming towards him.

 

“What is it, Blaine?”

 

Now that Kurt’s here, Blaine isn’t actually sure what he wants to say. “Uh, I was just looking at-”

 

Kurt laughs at him, and damn, he’s been doing that a lot lately. “Blaine, do you _want_ me to wash your hair for you?”

 

Blaine lowers his head, and he can feel his face flushing. It does sound appealing. “Your hands are wonderful,” he mutters.

 

“You are absolutely ridiculous, you know that? It’s a good thing I love you.” He holds out his hand to take the shampoo. “Go on then, run the bath instead of the shower – if you think I’m getting in there with you, well, you have another thing coming.”

 

Blaine grins and does as he’s told.

 

Kurt speaks up again, “Do you have a glass or something up here I can use to rinse your hair?” Blaine shakes his head, and offers to go and get one. As he leaves, he chances a glance back at Kurt, where he’s taking off his jacket and rolling up his sleeves.

_This afternoon just got ever so slightly weird_ , he thinks. Not necessarily bad weird, but weird all the same.

 

He retrieves the glass, and returns to find the water is at a perfect level and perfect temperature. Much to Kurt’s amusement, he spares no time in climbing in, groaning in pleasure as he does so.

 

Of course, that has nothing on his reaction when Kurt starts massaging the shampoo into his hair.

 

“Nnngh.”

 

“That good, huh?” Kurt asks, smile evident in his voice. Blaine can’t find it in him to be embarrassed about the noises he’s making, the heat of the water soaking into his aching muscles and Kurt’s strong fingers rubbing against his head turning his brain to mush.

 

“Mmmm, yeah,” he manages.

 

“Alright, head back, sweetheart, I don’t want to get it in your eyes.”

 

Blaine shuts them tight and lets Kurt guide his head back to pour a few glassfuls of water over his hair.

 

“Okay, all done. I’m going to go back to your room and wait for you to clean up the rest of the way, alright?”

 

Blaine nods, and hears Kurt leave.

 

He after a quick wash, he gets out of the bath and dries himself off – properly this time. By the time he makes it back to his room, Kurt is half-dozing on top of his bed. He climbs up next to him from behind, kissing the skin behind his ear as he positions himself as the big spoon.

 

“We aren’t going to end up watching any movies today, are we?” Kurt is the one to break their silence.

 

“Nope. Do you mind?” Blaine asks.

 

“Not one bit.”

 

\--

 

(1.)

 

“Flour?”

 

“Flour,” Blaine echoes, handing it to him.

 

“Vanilla?” Kurt asks, holding his hand out to his side.

 

Blaine once again parrots the ingredient back to him as he slides the tiny bottle into his hand.  Kurt eyes the pile of ingredients in front of them, checking down the recipe card once more before reassuring Blaine that they have everything they need to make the cookies.  Another lazy Saturday.

 

“Can you get the measuring cups down for me?” he asks, to which Blaine nods and digs around in the cupboard for them.

 

Once Blaine hands the cups over, Kurt begins to cream the first few ingredients (butter, white sugar, brown sugar) together in a stand mixer until they run smooth.  Kurt lets it run, to get rid of any small lumps he can’t see, before turning to Blaine again and wrapping his arms around his waist.  With a sigh, he rests his head on his shoulder, burying his face in the warmth of his boyfriend’s neck.

 

“I missed you,” he says softly, brushing his lips over Blaine’s pulse point.

 

“Mmm,” Blaine hums back in agreement.  “I missed you too.  Sorry things have been so hectic at the park recently.  I finish up my shows this week, though.  Then I’m all yours.”

 

Playfully, Kurt nips at Blaine’s neck – not hard enough to mark, but just hard enough to feel.  “Perfect.  Whatever shall I do with you?”

 

Blaine just grins in reply, pressing his lips into Kurt’s hair.  “Make me more cookies.”

 

“I can’t believe you talked me into this, you know,” Kurt chides, pulling himself free from Blaine’s embrace.  He turns back to the mixer and carefully begins sliding eggs in, one at a time, until they’re all blended in.  “The last thing anyone in this household needs is sugar.”

 

Blaine gives him a pout.  “I need sugar.  Right here,” he says, tapping his lips with a single finger.

 

Kurt groans at him.  “Wow, you did not.”

 

“Why, Kurt, I meant to eat, of course,” he replies, his innocent tone belied by the wolfish grin that threatens to take over his face.

 

With a roll of his eyes, Kurt begins measuring out the right amount of flour (three cups and not a pinch more, sifted until it blends smoothly).  “Of course you did,” he mumbles.

 

“Well,” Blaine begins, wrapping his arms around Kurt’s waist from behind, “If you won’t make me cookies to eat, then I’ll just eat you!”  He bites teasingly at Kurt’s neck and shoulder blade, lavishing the area with wet kisses afterwards.

 

Kurt reaches back and swats at him with no real threat.  “I’m making you cookies right now, you goof.  If you eat me, I’ll never finish.  Then what will you do?”

 

The batter is almost done.  Kurt folds in the flour, vanilla, baking soda, and chocolate chips – letting the mixer run a bit longer before deeming the mixture complete.  He pushes down the lever and removes the bowl, trying to turn around to grab a pan, but Blaine still has a tight grip on him – in fact, he tightens his grip.

 

“Let me go, sweetheart.  I can’t do this last part with a backpack.”

 

Ignoring the request, Blaine keeps his hold on Kurt, sucking lightly at his neck.  With a sigh, Kurt sets the bowl on the counter and leans into Blaine’s embrace, setting his hands on top of Blaine’s slightly larger ones on his stomach.

 

“We have to finish this, you know.  As much as I want to stay in your arms forever, we should finish these and clean the kitchen up before everyone else gets home.”

 

“Why?” Blaine whines.  “Don’t wanna let you go.”

 

He tilts his head to the side, subconsciously opening his neck up even more for Blaine.  “Because Dad and Carole are cooking tonight.  They need the space.”

 

Blaine makes a noncommittal noise and presses one last kiss into his neck before reluctantly letting him go.  He leans against the counter, eats a few chocolate chips out of the little bit that remains in the bag, and watches Kurt scoop the dough out in surprisingly neat balls onto a cookie sheet.  “You’re good at that,” he says around a mouthful of chocolate.

 

Kurt smiles, but doesn’t look back at him.  “Don’t talk with your mouth full,” he chides, but once again, there’s no real threat behind it.

 

“But it’s so yummy,” Blaine protests.

 

“It’s also horrible for your skin, you know.  You’re going to break out.”

 

“Am not.”

 

After sliding the tray onto the second shelf in the (already preheated) oven, Kurt turns around to face him, a teasing smile tugging at his lips.  “It’s true, baby.  Can’t argue with science.”

 

At that, he moves to grab Blaine’s hand.  Blaine knows the plan – they meant to go into the den, turn some cheesy move on, and completely ignore it for the fifteen minutes it takes for those cookies to bake; but he remains rooted to the spot.  His mind is suddenly spinning out of control, and he has a million questions, but all he can manage to ask is. “W-what did you say?”

 

There’s another tug on his hand, Kurt’s smile wavering just a bit.  “I said ‘you can’t argue with science.’” 

 

Blaine swallows hard.  “No, the- I… before that.”

 

Confusion settles into Kurt’s face, and it takes him a moment to catch on.  Blaine can tell when he does, because a bright red starts to crawl across his cheeks.  “Oh.  Sorry.  I – if it’s too much, I can just go back to ‘sweetheart.’”  He winces.  “It just kind of… slipped out.”

 

But Blaine simply replies, “No,” his head shaking slowly back and forth.  After a long moment of silence, he clears his throat awkwardly, and the two look away from each other.

 

“We should – go watch a movie, or something,” Kurt supplies.  “Until the cookies are done.”

 

They head into the den, and Blaine nods.  “How much time do we have left?”

 

Kurt digs into his pocket and pulls his phone out.  With a single swipe, he unlocks the screen and then opens up the timer.  “Three minutes.”

 

“Really?  That went fast.”

 

“Yeah,” Kurt chimes.

 

Once again, they fall into a dense silence.  Blaine wonders if he should speak up, tell Kurt outright and honestly that he liked it – maybe a little more than he should’ve – but he can’t seem to bring himself to do anything other than follow him into the den.  They both sit down on the couch, and Kurt hands Blaine the remote.

 

“You should – pick out something to watch.  I’ll go get these when the timer runs out while you search.”

 

They dance around each other for the rest of the night, but neither of them mentions the petname again – or their reactions.

 

The next time they have an afternoon together, they curl up on Blaine’s bed, legs and arms and sheets and emotions tangling together so that they don’t know where one of them ends and the other begins.

 

Blaine lazily presses kisses into Kurt’s shoulder and neck, the awkwardness of their previous date totally forgotten.

 

“Blaine?” Kurt asks, his voice breaking the silence for the first time in a while.

 

But Blaine just keeps nipping at the tender skin over his pulse point, content to just shower him with affection.

 

“Blaine, I-“ he tries again, gasping when Blaine sinks his teeth into his neck, sucking lightly.  It takes him a minute to recover, but eventually he swats playfully at his boyfriend’s shoulder.  “Blaine, listen to me.  I need to – we need to talk.”

 

That gets his attention.  Blaine rolls off of him quickly, propping himself up on an elbow and looking over at him with wide eyes.  With those few words, he feels like his heart’s fallen down into his stomach.  When he starts talking again, he knows he babbles, but he can’t help it.  “I – sorry, I didn’t… is this about last time we were together, because nothing has to hap-“

 

“No, Blaine, I-“

 

“-pen.  Are you – oh my God, are you breaking up with me? After I was just… all over you, oh God, I’m sorry, Kurt.  Please, just let me-“

 

“Blaine!” Kurt practically yells.  “Breathe. I’m not breaking up with you. But I do want to… talk about last week.”

 

Blaine is still breathing heavily.  He feels like he just ran a marathon.  “Y-you’re not?”

 

“No, God no.  Blaine, I love you.  You know I love you, right?  I love you so, so much.”

 

He smiles a bit, ducking his head.  “I love you too. Hence all the… panicking.”

 

Kurt pushes himself into a sitting position, urging Blaine to do the same. Once they’re both in the same position, he reaches over and grabs Blaine’s hand, wrapping it up in both of his.  His thumb moves slowly across his knuckles as he starts talking again.

 

“All of my life, all the love I’ve seen has been… people taking care of other people.  My mom,” he starts, his voice cracking a bit, “s-she was such a doting mother.  She did everything for me.  I – I was a pretty spoiled kid, I suppose.  And then after she-…  Dad did everything he could to make sure I was okay, you know?”

 

With his free hand, Blaine reaches up to swipe under Kurt’s eyes.  Kurt shoots back a water smile before he sniffles and continues on.  “H-he… there were days, multiple days straight sometimes, where he just wouldn’t go into the shop.  He wouldn’t send me to school and we would just curl up together on the couch.  We’d watch Disney movies and I’d cry with him until I fell asleep from being so exhausted, and he’d just let me.  He tried so hard to make sure I was going to get through it – to reassure both of us, I think, that we would be okay, no matter how much it hurt.

 

“And he never stopped that.  He still hasn’t stopped that.  Before he married Carole, he made sure it was okay with me.  Isn’t that silly?  Before he got married, he asked if _I_ was okay with it.  I was just – it was good to see him happy again.  Seeing him happy made me happy.  He deserves someone who looks after him like he always had for me.  And Carole just _is_ that person.”

 

Blaine gives his hand a tight squeeze, grabbing a tissue off the nightstand to pass to him – just in case.  “She’s amazing.  They’re wonderful together.”

 

“They are,” he agrees, grabbing the tissue with a thankful nod.  “And then after they got married, they gave up on going on a honeymoon for me, to send me to Dalton.  Again, to make sure I was safe and okay and it – that’s what real love looks like to me.  You want to do everything in your power to protect the other person, to give them everything they need, to make them feel as safe and as whole and as perfect as possible.”  Kurt pauses, looking up at Blaine with bright eyes.  “I want to do that for you.”

 

With wide eyes once again, Blaine swallows.  He’s trying not to look hopeful, but he’s beginning to understand, he thinks.  Just to be sure, he asks, “What are you saying?”

 

Finally, Kurt meets his eyes.  With a very quiet, very even, very calm voice, he says, “I want to take care of you, sweetheart.”


End file.
